Threats to the Equality Act 2010

In April 2011 the Government launched the Red Tape Challenge, a website which invites members of the public to comment on statutory rules and regulations. In the first two months the Government asked simply whether the Equality Act 2010 (primary legislation of 239 pages) should be scrapped or retained. Of the nearly 6000 responses 96% said do not scrap the Act.

Then the Secretary of State for Equalities announced that the Government did not intend to repeal the Act. This approach, especially when taken with the proposed changes to the role of the EHRC (consultation on the reform of the EHRC closed on 15/6/11) suggests that the Government are considering a significant watering down of both the Equality Act 2006 (which sets out the EHRC’s duties, powers and remit) and the Equality Act 2010. Should this happen, rights to race equality will be significantly reduced.

The Runnymede Trust is concerned about the increasingly frequent classification of discrimination protection as unimportant and a ‘burden on business’, rather than as a basic right. If the Government believes that the obligation to treat people in a non-discriminatory way can be trumped by the demands of business to maximize profits, then it undermines the foundation of our democracy and risks its legitimacy to govern.

The Runnymede Trust Recommendations:

·         The Government should ensure that any person who considers they have suffered discrimination, harassment, victimization or other conduct prohibited under the Equality Act 2010 is able to receive free and `timely skilled advice on their rights and assistance in seeking legal redress.

·         The Government should adopt appropriate provisions to prohibit multiple discrimination and retain the important protection of employees against harassment by a third party.

·         The Government should provide more effective leadership on equality in the private sector, by at minimum not referring to rights to equality and non-discrimination as ‘burdens on business’ and ‘unnecessary red tape’.

Diversity issues in the learning environment

Diversity issues in the learning environment may arise because of differences between learners.

Learners may belong to diverse genders, races, ages, sexual orientations, disabilities, religions and political beliefs.

However, the success of any organisation depends on how these diverse learners work together to achieve a common goal so leaders should foster a respectful and understanding culture in the learning community.

There can be many issues in the learning environment which can be best dealt with through training and seminars

Diversity Calendar

A diversity calendar can be incredibly useful to an organisation as it provides information about the annual cultural celebrations of people from different ethnic and cultural groups.
It enables those who oversee workplace training sessions to keep track of events and festivities of diverse groups and plan a schedule accordingly.
Another benefit is to show respect to people from different cultures by raising awareness about days which are important to them.

Building equality into the curriculum

A curriculum which addresses issues of citizenship, equality, and diversity and includes all learners as equal participants is a vital part of improving the quality of teaching and learning  in  education.

When considering diversity and inclusion in education it is often tempting to consider the areas that are covered by legislation, such as: 'race'; disability; sexual orientation; religion or belief; age and gender identity. However, learners have multiple identities and all learners have aspects of their personal lives that will impact upon the classroom context (such as having to act as a carer for a relative or partner, or having to work extra hours to earn additional money).

An inclusive curriculum not only addresses groups of learners who are covered by legislation, but also allows flexibility to accommodate issues that can potentially be faced by a much larger group of learners. One of the main ways that citizenship, equality, and diversity can be embedded in the curriculum is through incorporating these issues into the content of the course.

This is easier for some subjects than others, but there is scope in all subjects to make the curriculum content more reflective of diversity and more thoughtful about issues of citizenship. However, it is important to avoid being tokenistic.Equality,Diversity and Inclusion should be embedded into the mainstream curriculum, rather than being singled-out as separate from the main curriculum.

The Importance of Equality and Diversity Training

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training is an important commodity of the business world. No matter what kind of business you are in, this is an agenda for change and improvement. Businesses need to see the agenda as an improvement agenda as opposed to Political Correctness gone mad. Businesses should be running with the idea of PC – but when we say PC, we mean Professional Competence and confidence and practicing commonsense.

Too often, managers and staff avoid exploring this agenda and when there is an issue of inequality or discrimination they shy away from it by being reactive and looking all the time for quick fixes. We all know that quick fixes and knee jerk reactions rarely work on complex equality and diversity problems.

There is a need for organisations to review their structures, policies and procedure to ensure that they impact on all areas of the business and that staff have not only awareness, but an understanding about equality, diversity and inclusion.

If we are going to change the culture of an organisation, it is crucial that every effort is made to raise staff awareness, knowledge and understanding about what an equality organisation looks like and how staff are expected to behave in terms of professionalism. The agenda is not about being politically correct, but about demonstrating professional competence, confidence and common sense - PC with a difference.

Cultural change involves a sustained effort and a prolonged commitment by all concerned. While delivering EDI training to organisations, I have often heard from a minority of staff vitriolic comments, offensive language and some totally inappropriate views where staff don’t see the issues from other people’s point of view.

What is revealing about this is that most of the time staff précis their comments with, “ I am not racist, homophobic, sexist, but....”.  Comments are often harsh and shocking and I believe revealing about issues the organsiations are not addressing.

This tells me that in some organisations, when it comes to issues of race or any of the protected characteristics, the first time there is an open debate about equality and diversity is in the training session. It is sad that staff feel unable to explore issues of EDI as part of their day to day practice. This is surely an agenda for staff meetings and team discussions. If EDI is not on the agenda, how do we progress the issues?  If staff feel unable to discuss issues of race, sexuality, age etc., the issues are driven underground and you will find staff attending training rolling their eyes, tutting and firmly folding their arms when these issues are raised rather than openly discussing and exploring the issues from different viewpoints.

How can the culture of an organisation be changed if there is not the opportunity for people to share their experiences of inequality, or if the organisation fails to offer real and worthwhile opportunities to challenge myths, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and misconceptions?

Training should provide opportunities for staff and senior managers to debate issues and policies/procedures; these polices together offering opportunities for solutions as well as identifying problems

Businesses need to explore with staff their views, needs and issues. They need to consider the future, what will the work force look like in five years time, who will our customers be, etc.

This is an important question because in 2010, only 20 per cent of the UK's full-time workforce comprised white, non-disabled men under 45. Over the coming years, the workforce is set to become even more diverse, reflecting trends towards an ageing population, greater ethnic diversity and more women taking up positions in paid work.

How will you manage?